Aéropostale to send its Drones for advertising ahead of launch in India

Aero, Abercrombie & Fitch and American Eagle, also known as the “3As” in the United States, are popular in their home market for jeans, hoodies and Tshirts, mostly for teenagers.Sagar Malviya | ET Bureau | November 06, 2015, 08:00 IST

FILE PHOTO: Aero, Abercrombie & Fitch and American Eagle, also known as the “3As” in the United States, are popular in their home market for jeans, hoodies and Tshirts, mostly for teenagers.MUMBAI: American apparel maker Aéropostale plans to use drones for advertising before launching its maiden store in India, the first company to do so in the country. The New York headquartered brand, popularly called Aero, will use three drones to circle Select CityWalk mall in Delhi on Friday evening when it holds a music festival a day ahead of the opening of the store, executives said.

“The brand promotion will be the first of its kind in India. The aim is to attract youngsters through such novel marketing campaigns, supported by musical shows during the brand launch,” said J Suresh, managing director of Arvind Lifestyle Brands, which has the licence to handle the brand in India. Aero has been activating flash mobs targeted at youth in Delhi colleges, said Suresh.

Aero, Abercrombie & Fitch and American Eagle, also known as the “3As” in the United States, are popular in their home market for jeans, hoodies and Tshirts, mostly for teenagers. The brand plans to open 40 stores and 50 shop-in-shops over the next four years as well as an ecommerce portal with an aim to reach .`500 crore sales mark by then.

Drone advertising is a relatively new phenomenon globally as well, with a few firms such as Amazon and Google experimenting with these remote-controlled airborne devices to deliver parcels to customers’ doorsteps a few hours after they make a purchase. Ayear ago, when Francesco’s Pizzeria used a drone to send an order to a Mumbai skyscraper about one mile away, the local police said it posed a security risk and questioned the pizza owner. However, Arvind Brands said it has taken permission from the local authorities to fly their billboards. “It is surely going to make waves at the outset but how far-reaching effects it can garner in comparison to other traditional and contemporary branding and advertising plans is still to be seen,” said brand consultant Manisha Rao.

“In India, the aviation policies on drones for commercial, entertainment and personal consumption are still unclear.” As India becomes important for global retailers, more and more apparel brands are introducing their international practices to launch and market their bands in the country. These marketing and activation programmes also ensure that more and more people get to know of the launch day and crowds pile up outside the store on opening day.